Boring to Brilliant
by teesloverB01
Summary: Vincent Nigel-Murray is the new kid at the Jeffersonian. On his first day, he's hopelessly lost, until he runs into a certain blonde-haired boy: Wendell Bray. One thing was made pretty obvious from that moment on. School was never going to be the same again. Especially when this Colin Fisher comes into the picture. High school AU.
1. Novus Ludus

A/N: I know what you're thinking, another one of THOSE fics. Ughh, high school, right? And what's up with this pairing? Well, I'm not quite sure myself, but please give it a chance, and I hope you like it!

BTW: If you ever watched it, you'll find that this has some similarities to the show "Unnatural History." You know, that one show on Cartoon Network that was really good, but still got canceled? Yeah.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. Ixnay.

* * *

"Sex, drugs and rock and roll." The whole class snapped their heads up, confused. Mr. Goodman smiled to himself and continued his lecture. "Yeah, that got your attention, didn't it? So, ladies and gentlemen, as I was saying, Hemingway was most likely-"

RIINNGGG~

The class sighed in relief as the bell interrupted their teacher, signaling the end of first period. "Saved by the bell." Mr. Goodman remarked, wiping off the whiteboard. "Don't forget to do your reading, there'll be a test next time." Everyone groaned, shuffling out of the room.

Vincent Nigel Murray came out last, map in hand, stumbling around in the hallway, trying to navigate within the bustling crowd of teens. He was just about to turn the corner when a blonde haired boy came ramming into him. Vincent grunted, dropping his multitude of books, landing flat on his back. He groaned, letting someone, probably the boy who crashed into him, pull him to his feet. After his vision refocused, he met the blue-eyed gaze of the perpetrator.

"Sorry about that, dude. I was kinda in a hurry. One more tardy and its Saturday detention. Again." The boy looked at his victim for a while, trying to remember who he was. When he came to the conclusion he was not at all familiar, he figured he was new. "Hey, I'm Wendell. First day here?" He extended his hand.

"Uhh, yeah. I'm Vincent. I'm new, obviously." He shook Wendell's outstretched hand and bent down to gather his dropped books. He gave Wendell a confused look once he bent down too. "Umm, aren't you going to be late?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, I'm used to detention. We don't get newbies around here very often." He picked up the map of the campus and handed it back. "Getting lost?"

"Little bit. New surroundings and all. Plus, this place is huge."

"It is a museum. Here, let me see your schedule." He took the piece of paper from Vincent's hand and unfolded it. "Wait, didn't I just have English with you? And your next class is… AP Biology. Hey, what a coincidence!" He folded the schedule up, tossing it back. "So is mine. Come on."

They continued down the hall and made it into the room just as the bell sounded. Wendell took a seat near the window and pulled Vincent down to sit next to him. "You're gonna love Mr. Hodgins. He's really ecstatic about bugs and he has, like, the coolest conspiracy theories ever."

Wendell then pointed to the person standing next to their teacher. He looked a bit older than they were, probably in college. "That's Zack Addy. He's Mr. Hodgins' student aid. He's really smart, but sorta socially awkward, you know what I mean? But he's awesome, I'll introduce you guys later. Also, for no reason whatsoever, they're always competing for the title of King of the Lab. I mean, it gets really competitive in here sometimes. Between them."

"All right, guys, let's get started!" Mr. Hodgins clapped his hands, silencing the room. "So, like I mentioned last class, today we'll be dissecting fetal pigs." Cheers erupted from the class as most of the boys high-fived each other and started teasing the girls.

Mr. Hodgins unveiled his box of animal bodies and laid out the individual containers on the tables. "All right, all right, settle down. Partner up and try not to faint." He discreetly eyed all the boys in the class. "We don't want a repeat of what happened with the sheep's eye."

Wendell brought back his and Vincent's pig to their table and they both stared down at it, scalpels in hand. "So, umm, you can go first."

"Thanks, I sincerely appreciate it." Vincent cut into it while Wendell recorded their findings. "Did you know that if you look at the back wall of a fetal pig heart, you'll see a vessel that is _enormous _compared to the relatively small size of the fetal pig heart? It's because the hemiazygous vein loses its connection to the right common cardinal vein, and maintains its connection through the left cardinal vein. The left cardinal vein drains not only the heart wall, but also the posterior chest wall through the hemiazygous vein. Consequently, the left cardinal vein becomes very large in pigs."

Wendell stopped writing and looked confusedly at his friend. "That's… nice to know. How do you know that?"

"Probably read it somewhere. I have a retentive memory." Vincent gloated, smiling at his fetus.

After finishing their lab, the two of them sat at their table waiting for everyone else to finish. "So where are you from anyway?" Wendell asked after realizing he knew next to nothing about this kid.

"Oh, I'm from Erdington, northeast of Birmingham."

"Wow, England? Did you move here or…"

"Uhh, no. I'm part of the foreign exchange student program. I'm staying with an old family friend, Cam Saroyan."

Wendell's eyes widened, his mouth forming an O. "No way. You're staying with the principal of the school? Dude, that must suck, she probably doesn't let you do anything, huh?"

"No, no! She's really cool, well, I mean, it's only been a week so I'm not really sure."

"Oh, well, at least you get a free pass at school, right? Unless you piss her off, then you're totally screwed."

RIINNGGG~

"Oh, that's lunch. Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone!" Wendell swung his backpack over his shoulder and dragged Vincent with him to the cafeteria.

* * *

Arriving at his usual table, Wendell sat down with his friends, pulling out a chair for the other boy. "Hey, guys. This is Vincent. He's a foreign exchange kid. It's his first day today." Vincent waved awkwardly as everyone else eyed him suspiciously.

"Cool! We don't get new kids very often!" An eccentric girl sitting on the opposite end squealed. "I'm Daisy, nice to meet 'cha!" She motioned to her friends around her, listing off their names in order. "That's Clark, he's a total stickler and he hates fun."

"Hey, I resent that!" The dark-skinned teen protested.

"Whatever, it's totally true. Anyway, that's Finn in all his sweet southern glory." The boy she pointed to lowered the tip of his cap as a hello.

Daisy continued, squeezing the boy next to her. "This is Oliver, the fairly odd, random one of the group and you probably already know Zack. I mean, you just had bio, right? Well, I mean, I'm assuming since Wendell doesn't usually take the time to seek people out, so you must've had last class with him. So where you from? Are you liking it here?"

"Daisy!" All but Vincent cried. The girl shrunk back a little, mumbling an apology.

"Sorry, she gets a bit… talkative sometimes. Anyway, did you get a tour of the school yet?"

"Uhh, no. There was no one available."

"Oh well, I'll take care of that right now. Come on, I'll show you around."

"Wait, you're gonna show him the whole school and the museum in one lunch period?" Clark asked incredulously.

"Maybe not the whole thing, but I mean, we'll get through most of it. We do have a whole hour. Anyone else coming with?"

"Oh, I will. I have to finish up some stuff in English anyway." Finn grabbed his backpack and walked out with the other two.

Oliver watched them as they left. "That's like the 4th time he's left this week. And the third time he's used that excuse. Where is it that you guys think Finn goes?"

"Umm, not my business." Clark remarked, getting up to get some food.

"Maybe he has secret rendezvous with a secret lover." Zack suggested, not looking up from a science experiment he swore would finally prove Hodgins' theory wrong. What the theory was about, however, they'll probably never know.

Oliver and Daisy looked at each other, considering it for a second before they shot it down. "Nah." They went back to unpacking their lunches.

In the somewhat empty hallways, Finn had left the two after about 20 minutes, stating he had to make up a lab in chemistry (even though Wendell swore he said something about English earlier).

"I almost forgot!" The blonde teen motioned to a sign-up sheet hung on a billboard next to a flyer advertising a band named _Gormogon. _What a peculiar name.

"I'm guessing you don't know about the work study program, right? Well, everyone that goes here has to intern at the museum at least three times a month. Depending on performance and schedules your internship could last more than a week or just that one day. You get rotated out, but considering the population of the student body, it's not that often." He presented the pen to Vincent. "I suggest going to the art department first. Angela takes care of all the newbies."

The Brit complied, writing his name under the art section. "Who's Angela?"

"Oh, she's an art teacher and head of the art history department. We call her by her first name because she thinks Mrs. Montenegro makes her sound old. She's the coolest teacher here, a 'free-spirit' as she likes to call herself. Anyway, on with the tour!" They turned the corner, entering the common grounds where the school and the museum connected, when suddenly someone bumped into them. The stranger had his hands shoved into his pockets and his hood up.

"S-Sorry." The guy mumbled, keeping his head down, continuing down the hall.

Vincent noticed that he had dropped something and, picking it up, shouted for him. "Hey, you dropped your earphones!"

The stranger turned around and grabbed them back from him. They met each other's eyes and Vincent saw something there. He couldn't quite place it. It was like there was a lot of sadness behind them, but the guy seemed like he was… happy too, if that made any sense at all. Yeah, not so much.

"Thanks." The hooded individual said, walking away.

"Well, that was weird." Wendell checked his phone for the time. "I guess that concludes the tour actually. You'll get to know the museum since you'll be there every month. I'm hungry now. Let's go get something to eat."

* * *

A/N: So what did you guys think? Please review. Please. I'm begging you. I just need to know if you guys like this or not! Please!

Ok, so anyway, since this was just the first chapter, I couldn't introduce everybody, but they'll all be coming in soon. Also, I'm sorry if Vincent or the others were OOC, but this is an AU, so they'll be a little different.

BUT I will try to keep them **in character **as much as I can in later chapters. Ok, thanks and please, please tell me what you think. :D


	2. Insanis Amicum, But Not Really?

A/N: Sooooo sorry for the long wait, but I wasn't quite sure if Vincent was going to meet that one guy now or later, but I decided now. All right, here we go!

**Warning: Some suicidal themes, but minor. If it makes you feel in any way uncomfortable, please turn away before the end. BUT, keep in mind, Fisher's here. So, it's with him.**

* * *

After lunch, Vincent made his way to the locker rooms to change for his next class.

"Hey, Vince, hold up!" Oliver called after him, running to catch up. "Coincidentally, we have gym together. So, while I have you here… Where did Finn go when he and Wendell were giving you a tour? I know he said he was doing something for English, but he's said that 4 times now. He's, like, never absent. What does he even need to make up?"

"Oh, umm, sorry. I don't know. He left, maybe, 15 minutes in? He said he was doing a lab." Vincent answered, trying unsuccessfully to open his lock.

"Hmm, interesting. Here, turn it right 3 times first." Oliver snatched the piece of paper the combination was on, spun the dial, and pulled it open. "And I'm not, like, trying to be a total creeper with all the snooping or anything… it's just… I can't help it. I need to know! And I know he would tell us if he wanted us to know, but I can't stop. It's like the detective in me won't quit until he figures out the mystery of that sweet Southern boy."

"Well, have you tried asking him yet?"

"No… but it's not like he'll just outright tell me…" Oliver put his finger to his lips, deep in thought. "Maybe Zach's right… maybe he has a secret girlfriend. Or maybe he's harboring a dark secret, making him lead a double life."

"Like he's actually a serial killer in disguise?" Vincent asked seriously, shoving his other clothes into the locker, pulling on his uniform.

"Umm… no… I mean, I wouldn't put that past Zach, but not Finn. No way. He's way too nice for that." As the bell rang for class to start, Oliver slammed his locker shut and dragged the other out to the gym. "I refuse to give up on this. Mark my words, Abernathy, you will be solved!" He shook his fist in the air for emphasis.

They took their seats on the gym floor just as their instructor spoke. "All right, class. Today, I've arranged a sort of boot camp. There's the rope climb, rock wall, weight lifting, cardio and flexibility training. All you do is rotate through the stations. Now split off into groups and pick a corner."

"But, Mr. Booth! We're all still sore from the last time!" Oliver whined, pulling a pouty face.

"Too bad, suck it up! None of your classmates seem to be complaining."

"Has anyone ever told you that you look strikingly similar to Angel from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_?"

Mr. Booth looked confused at the random question. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, merely an observation." He smiled cheekily and gestured to the training course. "Proceed."

"I'm starting to like you less and less, Mr. Wells."

"Oh, I can't say the feeling's mutual, sir. You are a very appealing man."

"Get going, Wells."

"As you wish." Oliver took Vincent with him to the ropes.

~~~~**_Notice this break. It's beatiful. Agree? I totally spelled beautiful wrong. Did you catch that?_**~~~~

"Ugh!" Vincent grunted as he face planted onto the mat beneath the ropes.

Oliver laughed at him, neglecting to help him up. "So is it safe to say that this isn't your strongest subject?"

Vincent stood up and dusted himself off. "I wouldn't say I'm that physically fit to begin with, so yeah. Let's go with that."

"Don't worry about it, I've never gotten past the 4th knot. My arms are just too noodle-y to drag myself any further. I swear, Mr. Booth is a sadist. In fact, I think my pain brings him a special kind of joy. But anyway, at least there's no physical education for us next year." Oliver grabbed the rope and jumped to the first knot. "So how are you liking the school so far?"

"It's weird, to say the least. It's connected to a museum, that's pretty special."

"Yeah, the Jeffersonian is a beauty, isn't she? There's this one room we call 'Limbo'. It's just this super long hallway filled with boxes of bones of people that have never been identified."

"What's it for?"

"Oh, the Medico-legal lab. It's home to all these forensic specialists that help solve murders with the FBI, so that area's kinda off-limits to students. Well, I mean, unless you have a recommendation or something. I've always wanted to intern for them, but it gets pretty gruesome over there. Besides, I'm in Authentications right now and counterfeits are always fun. What about you? What'd you choose for your work study?"

"Wendell told me the art department was the best choice, so I'm stuck with that." Vincent was interrupted by the loud sound of a whistle, signaling everyone to go one station to their right. He stared up at the 20-foot rock wall in disbelief, standing still as someone helped put his harness on.

"Just get to the top and hit the button," Oliver instructed. "Oh, and I hope you get put in Art History, you would love Angela."

"So I've been told. Umm, what exactly do you do as an intern?" Vincent grabbed hold of the colorful "rocks" and started to climb up.

"Uhh, depends on what you're in, but it's like sorting, shelving, and inventory. It's grunt work, mostly. But you learn about all sorts of things in the process and sometimes they even take you out on expeditions. Trust me, it'll be really fun." He watched his friend climb higher, surpassing the girl next to him who had lost her footing and fell back to the mat.

After Vincent pushed the red button, he dropped back down triumphantly and gave the other a high-five. "That was easier than I expected."

"Yep, this one is definitely my favorite. Now, scoot over, it's my turn." For the next 45 minutes, the boys exhausted themselves with the aptly titled boot camp. Someone even ran out of the room crying. Good thing Mr. Booth was an amazing runner.

"So what do you have for the last hour of the day?" Oliver asked, once they were back in the locker room.

Vincent didn't look up as he started buttoning his shirt. "I have a free period. I don't think I'll be doing anything."

"Ugh, lucky… I've got US Government. Like any of the things they teach us are actually true. Please, not going to believe any of that."

"Have you been spending a lot of time with Mr. Hodgins?"

"While he is a big conspiracy nut, he hasn't exactly turned me over into that world. I'm not like _that_, well, not really. I consider myself to be… open minded. So, sometimes, I just might agree with him. Anyway, I have to get going. Maybe I'll see you in the museum after school today! Catch you later!" As soon as the bell rang, the curly-haired boy took off for his next class.

* * *

Lounging about in the library, Vincent was extremely bored for his final period. He smiled and waved to other passer-by, albeit their uninterested expressions. They all seemed to be absorbed in their work, which he should be too, but instead the Englishman decided to play online games of _Jeopardy_. Well, that was an hour and a half well spent.

After seeing the hordes of students shuffling out of their classrooms to get home or to the museum, Vincent decided it would be good for his health to stay with the books until the crowd dissipated. Once most of them had gone, he made his way to the Art Department. And, of course, got lost along the way. Finally, after a security guard showed him the way, he stumbled into the warehouse. He spun around in amazement and disbelief at all the paintings, sculptures, and… miscellaneous objects.

"You're here! Didn't get too confused, did you?"

Vincent faced the voice coming out from the tiny office up in the corner. "Oh, yeah. But I had some help, so…" He watched as a woman came down, clipboard in hand, huge smile on her face. He took in her features. She had dark, wavy hair and looked to be of Asian descent. "Uhh, sorry. Are you Mrs. Montenegro?"

"Angela, please. I mean, do I look like a Mrs. to you?" She gestured to her body and looked at Vincent expectantly.

"Umm… No?"

"Good answer. I think we'll get along fine." She looked at her clipboard. "Vincent Nigel-Murray, is it? From England? Wow, you're a long way from home. You settling in okay?"

"Yes, yes. Made some great friends, you know. Getting the hang of the gigantic campus. Normal first day stuff."

"Good, glad to hear it. Now, for your first assignment." Angela glanced up at the clock. "That's weird, my other intern is late, and I was going to have him explain the basics to you. I'm so sorry, Vincent, I have to sign for some packages coming. Would you be okay staying here for a bit?"

"I could probably find your intern for you. I mean, I think."

"Really? You'd do that? I am so sorry for leaving you like this."

"No, don't worry about it. It's fine. Umm, what's his name and what do I look for?"

"It's Fisher. Colin Fisher. He's wearing this navy blue hoodie, Bright Eyes logo on the back. That's a band, by the way. And sometimes he likes to go on the roof, so start there. Bring him back here, so I can kick his ass, and get the two of you working. Thank you so much, Vincent!" She hurried out to monitor the arrival of her shipment.

Vincent awkwardly waved goodbye and turned to go find this Colin. "Where was I supposed to… Right, roof."

Climbing up the 20 flights of stairs to the roof, he breathed heavily when he finally made it up there. Straightening, he looked around. For a second, he couldn't see anything or anyone. It was just an empty roof with no sign of the intern he'd been searching for. He took a couple steps forward and froze when his eyes fell on someone standing on the ledge. Immediately, his breath hitched in his throat. Navy blue hoodie with a logo on the back. Bright…Eyes. That was Fisher!

The intern had his back turned, but he started walking along the edge, arms spread out. It was fairly gusty up here. Fisher shook slightly every time it blew. He didn't seem to care. He seemed to only be interested in looking over the edge.

Vincent weighed his options. He'd never been put in this kind of situation before, so he didn't know whether to talk him down or just tackle him off the ledge. The latter probably wasn't the best idea, though. He slowly stepped forward and planned on calmly calling to him, so as to not scare him. See, that was the plan, but Vincent freaked out, and the calmness just rushed out of him.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled frantically. Not the best way to go about this.

The intern's head snapped up. The sudden noise and movement made him lose his balance, tipping over the ledge. "Whoa." He teetered back to his original position and hopped down, eyes focusing on Vincent. "Dude, you know, I could've fallen. You could've just tapped me on the shoulder or something."

Vincent looked flustered. "Wha-… you…You were going to off yourself! What if you jumped when you heard me?!"

"Hmm? Oh, no. I wasn't planning on jumping. See, I'm working on this thesis of mine. It's on how bones scatter upon falling from high places. I wasn't going to test it or anything, I wanted to judge distance from this building to the concrete below." He said it simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Receiving no response from the shocked face he didn't quite recognize, he continued talking. "Sorry, did I scare you? I'm Colin, by the way."

"Vincent. And yeah, you kinda gave me a heart attack!"

"My fault. My friends say I'm really pessimistic and that just by being around me makes them slightly depressed. Wait a minute, I know you now! You picked up my headphones earlier today, right? Yeah, I crashed into you and that one blonde kid. . . What was his name? Bray!"

"Yeah, yeah, that was me. Did you know that the most important factor in jumping is height? 150 feet is the minimum for it to work. And there can't be anything to break your fall, it should be a hard surface below. Beachy Head in East Sussex is notorious for its rocky landings , which is why it's a big suicide spot." Vincent rambled, breathing heavily again.

"I didn't know that about Beachy Head, but it is concrete below, and this is a 10-story building, so it meets the requirements, I think… Are you ok? You look like you're having a panic attack or something." Fisher reached over and started rubbing the other's back.

"No, no, I'm great. It was just really tiring, getting up here. The… stairs. There's a lot of them."

"Yeah, I noticed. So did you just happen to amble out here, or did you want me, or maybe… you wanted alone time?"

"Oh! Angela. She sent me to find you because you were running late…"

"Crap! I completely blanked, she said something about a new student, too. Well, come on, don't want to keep her waiting any more." He motioned for Vincent to follow him and opened the roof door. He suddenly spun back around to face his co-intern. "Oh, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Angela. She's already suspicious of me, I don't really feel like raising alarms…"

"Of course not, what happens on the roof stays on the roof, right? To be clear, you _weren't _thinking about jumping, right? Like, at all?"

Fisher put an arm around the other's shoulders. "Oh, my new English friend. No. I might be overly pessimistic and suffering from the hopeless vapors, but I was never suicidal… I mean, I _am not _suicidal. Present tense. Come on, let's go."

* * *

A/N: Another chapter written. Whooo! Great, hope you liked. Thanks to my readers who stuck with me, promise next update will be longer (no promises) and, hopefully, quicker.

Feedback, if you've got the time. And have fun! With whatever it is you're doing.


End file.
